LCR Honda CASTROL rider Cal Crutchlow had to settle for 12th position after the opening day of free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix. In what is the home race of HRC, the Briton narrowly missed out on a top 10 spot at the Twin Ring Motegi and now has work to do ahead of qualifying. With heavy rain forecast for Saturday, the chance to secure automatic entry into Q2 looks to have escaped Crutchlow. He claimed tenth spot in FP1 but, despite improving by nearly half a second in FP2, was pushed down into 12th position as he missed out by less than a tenth. Despite that setback, he remains hopeful of a good result at a venue where he finished second last year.
Cal Crutchlow – 12th (1’45.084 – lap 17 of 17)
“It was a disappointing day here in Motegi. I missed out on the top 10 which is obviously disappointing not to go through to Q2 directly. We know that there is heavy rain forecast for tomorrow so this makes the situation and day very difficult. But I don’t have a great feeling with the bike, we are struggling to decelerate it and we have difficulties in turning the bike and turning the corner so it makes for a difficult lap around the Motegi circuit. As, I’ll endeavour to improve with my team and improve the feeling, but that can’t be done tomorrow with the weather that is due.”
Results FP2:
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’44.764 |
| 2 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’45.085 |
| 3 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’45.100 |
| 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’45.414 |
| 5 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’45.466 |
| 6 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’45.562 |
| 7 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’45.577 |
| 8 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’45.619 |
| 9 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’45.641 |
| 10 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’45.721 |
| 11 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’45.730 |
| 12 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | LCR Honda CASTROL | 1’45.804 |
| 13 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’46.020 |
| 14 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’46.330 |
| 15 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’46.557 |
| 16 | Karel ABRAHAM | Reale Avintia Racing | 1’46.576 |
| 17 | Jorge LORENZO | Repsol Honda Team | 1’46.661 |
| 18 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’46.800 |
| 19 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’46.803 |
| 20 | Andrea IANNONE | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’46.969 |
| 21 | Tito RABAT | Reale Avintia Racing | 1’47.158 |
| 22 | Mika KALLIO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’47.312 |
| 23 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’47.974 |
Source: motogp.com, lcr.mc